Sate of the arts after 911: Cultural world still shuddering from economy

Wednesday would be just too, too obvious. But on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale and Thursday in Miami, a seminar will be conducted for nonprofit organizations, called "Creative Fundraising in a Tight Economy."more

The New York theater community is preparing to put on a marathon event to commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11 with three days of mostly short, new works by a wide range of playwrights, poets, performers, composers, directors and actors. more

In the arcane lingo of the art world, the devastating events of Sept. 11 might be described as a performance-art piece of the highest order - a terrifying assault on the senses that combined video, live action, vivid color, horrific sound effects and the ultimate extension of art into reality: actual deaths on camera. more

While some educators have been practicing what some experts say is an optimal approach -- urging youngsters to simply talk about what they are feeling -- others have turned to something else: the arts.

Once again dance is not mentioned...but the article is interesting....from the Chicago Sun Times:

Art in a post 9/11 world

September 11, 2002

BY HEDY WEISS THEATER CRITIC

Quote:

Because many artists feed on time and memory, using a complex process of digestion, distillation and transformation, the full effect of Sept. 11 on art and artists might not emerge for a decade. Think how long it took for many of the most profound responses to the Holocaust to surface. Or even World War II.

A remarkable interview with Daniel Baranboim about his concerns for the Middle East crisis and how he has used his music to take steps for reconciliation. If only there were more like him:

Taking a stand The one to one interview series in which Fergal Keane talks to people who have stood up for what they believe in. From the BBc website.

Daniel Barenboim, musical director of the Berlin State Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is one the most talented musicians of his generation. But it is Daniel Barenboim's stand toward the Middle East that has most recently put his name into the headlines.

Daniel Barenboim, who is Jewish and an Israeli citizen, believes that the crisis in the occupied territories cannot be solved by military means alone. He argues that unless the state of Israel embraces "peace and opens her borders she risks becoming a ghetto". Daniel Barenboim has played concerts in the West Bank and has brought young Arab and Israeli musicians together with students from around the world. He also took the controversial step of playing the music of the anti-Semitic Wagner in Jerusalem.

From the web page below you will be able to access an audiofile with the complete programme until early on the 28th January, 2003:

In Korea, parents discourage their deaf children from using sign language in public because they don't want people to know they are "handicapped" -- a label given to those who cannot hear.

"They are seen as second-class citizens," said Jung Youl, a deaf instructor in Korea, speaking through an interpreter.

...

Youl began the troupe at her school in Taegu, South Korea, to incorporate the senses in communicating artistically to audiences. But what started as a school lesson has evolved into a professional dance group that performs throughout Korea, visiting prisons, military bases and community events.

It has become a visual example, she said, of a value instilled at the Fremont school: Deaf people are capable of doing anything they set their minds to.

Dance Classes Help a Girl Step Away From Grief Tania Ralli, New York Times

n a small dance studio filled with sunlight, Ashley Waldron, 13, did a sequence of dance steps across the floor. Her movements were tentative at first. But as the tempo quickened, they became more fluid, more sure.

Soon, she was back in line, eager to go again. But before she did, she helped a younger dancer with the position of her arms.

Dancing has filled two important needs in Ashley's life. It has helped her deal with the death of her mother. It has also helped her gain a stronger sense of self.

When Sam Hamill, a poet and founder of Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Wash., was invited to a poetry symposium by Laura Bush last month, his response was to send e-mail messages to 50 friends and colleagues asking them for antiwar poems to send to Mrs. Bush. In four days he received 1,500 responses.

Earlier this month, in Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, the Miami City Ballet, South Florida's internationally acclaimed dance company, performed its premiere of the classical comedic ballet Coppelia. <a href=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/letters/5466092.htm target=_blank>more</a>

I agree too, but it's worth remembering some less than ideal uses, as described by Tiit Tuumalu in this extract from a review of a revisionist modern dance "Swan Lake". The Arts can be used as an opiate as well:

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The fact that those who attempted the coup d'état in August 1991, when the tanks rolled in the streets of Moscow, decided to broadcast “The Swan Lake” was not by chance. Already Stalin had turned classical ballet, especially “The Swan Lake”, into an instrument of totalitarian power....

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